Swifts can fly for 10 months without stopping

Many of us have heard about the ability of birds to travel long distances. But a recent study published in Current Biology shows that in addition to the remarkable distance swifts fly (often between Europe and Subsaharan Africa), they often don’t even stop along their journey. A key finding of the study was that the 19 monitored birds spent more than 99% of their time in flight – averaging only a few periods of inactivity during the 10 months they were monitored. Researchers also noted that is it not clear when and to what extent the birds even sleep during this time.

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I am an ecologist with broad interests in how human-induced changes alter how ecosystems function and the services that they provide. A central focus of my research is understanding how changes in biodiversity affect the flow of nutrients and energy in ecosystems. Most of this research takes place in tropical coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs.
I am an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.